Describe the character of the ancient king in Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias."

 

Answer:

Ozymandias" is the title of two related sonnets  published in 1818. The first was written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley(1792-1822) and was published in the 11 January 1818 issue of The Examiner of London. The poem was included the following year in Shelley's collection Rosalind and Helen,A Modern Eclogue; with Other Poems, and in a posthumous compilation of his poems published in 1826. Shelley's most famous work, "Ozymandias" is frequently anthologised.Shelley's poem "Ozymandias" famously describes a ruined statue of an ancient king in an empty desert. Although the king's statue boastfully commands onlookers to "Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair," there are no works left to examine: the king's cities, empire, and power have all disappeared over time.

Shelley's poem "Ozymandias" famously describes a ruined statue of an ancient king in an empty desert. Although the king's statue boastfully commands onlookers to "Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair," there are no works left to examine: the king's cities, empire, and power have all disappeared over time.The vision depicted in the poem indicates that Ozymandias was a strong  ruler. He was probably one that ruled out of fear and conquest, and ruled with a strong sense of control.The pharaoh, also known as Ramses the Great or Ozymandias, was the third of the 19th dynasty of Egypt and ruled for 66 years, from 1279BC to 1213BC. He led several military expeditions and expanded the Egyptian empire to stretch from Syria in the east to Nubia (northern Sudan) in the south.The line "The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed" further informs us thatOzymandias saw his 

subjects as buffoons and treated them as if they were idiots. He relished abusing

his subjects and he fed his overblown ego by treating them with utter disregard and making fools of them.Ozymandias was a king who loved himself more than his subjects. He was a self-absorbed megalomaniac with the notion of being the mightiest ruler in the whole world. Insensitive and haughty in temperament, he was self-obsessed and arrogant, these expressions substantially illuminate the character traits of  Ozymandias.Ozymandias' power is presented as being dictatorial and cruel- this is clear in the description of his statue's facial expression- "sneer of cold command" and implied through the inscription which appears on the statue's pedestal: "king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!" in which Ozymandias communicate his desire to be dominant over others and cause them reason to fear him. Shelley paints an unflattering picture of the pharaoh, perhaps to show his dislike for monarchs and rulers. This is proved further by his juxtaposed description of the statue as it is 'now'- a "colossal wreck", which is in "decay" and "shatter'd". He emphasizes how the arrogant king's masterpiece has not lived up to Ozymandias' expectations.

The statue is described as two huge standing legs, without a torso. A massive but crumbling stone head lies nearby and half buried in the sand. The face is supposed to have had a 'sneer of cold command'. The ominous looking remains stood on a pedestal on which the words 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings.